If the state wants the attorneys to complete all the statutory duties outlined under an 11-year-old law, the Legislature has no choice but to appropriate funds to hire additional attorneys and staff. Outdated portions of the law should be changed. Something has to give.
The GAL attorneys now oversee, on average, 174 cases each, and that doesn't mean 174 children. Each case could, and most do, involve several children. Statutory duties, in addition to court appearances, include attending all foster-care citizen review board hearings that involve children they represent, interviewing and meeting with all the children regularly, conducting or supervising investigations and assessing foster homes where children are temporarily placed.
At the Matheson Courthouse, eight attorneys share one secretary. They spend most of their days in court, presenting evidence and arguing for their young clients, who have no one else on their side. They type reports at night, but many, understandably, don't complete all the required paperwork.
Some of the statutory duties have been made obsolete by changes in how juvenile cases are processed. Either the Legislature should decide which duties are essential and which are discretionary or, better yet, leave the attorneys to represent their clients' best interests in an ethical and professional way without mandated duties.
The audit report estimates that GAL caseloads from both the juvenile and district courts have increased 58 percent since 2000. District court cases have jumped 136 percent and are expected to increase even further.
To reduce the caseload to a manageable 80 to 100 cases per attorney, the Legislature would need to fund about 22 additional GAL attorneys, along with support staff and office expenses. That is a substantial new appropriation, but necessary if the state is to properly meet its obligation to the children in its care.
They deserve to be represented by attorneys who have sufficient time and resources to gather evidence and to present it convincingly in court. The children can't do it for themselves.
